Music-leaf turner.



B. F. WILLIAMS.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER. APPLICATION ELLED OCT-29,19l5. RENEWED AFR-3.19M.

1,225,546. Patented May 8,1917.

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MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPucmoN men OCT-29, ms. RENEWED APR. 3. 1917. 1,225,546,.

a-vvumtoz un/imam BENJAMIN F. WILLIAMS, 0F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1917.

Application filed October 29, 1915, Serial No. 58,620. Renewed April 3, 1917. Serial No. 159,522.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. WIL- LIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Music- Leaf Turners, of which the following is a specification,

This invention relates to music leaf turn ers, and it has for its object to produce a simple and improved device of this class which may be readily applied to any ordinary music stand, enabling the musician to turn the leaves as required by means of a pedal instead of'by hand.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and improved leaf turner in which the leaf turning arms are carried by a pivotally supported member that will lend itself to mounting on a foldable music rack or stand.

A further object of the invention is to simplify and improve the leaf turning mechanism.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifi cations within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a music rack or stand equipped with the improved leaf turning attachment.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the leaf turning part of the device, as it appears when a leaf has been turned and before the turning member has been retracted or restored to its initial position.

Fig. 4: is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the shaft or spindle.

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of the leaf turning dome detached from the shaft.

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view, enlarged, taken on the line 77 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail view, enlarged, showing a portion of the music rack, a portion of the shaft carrying the turning dome and the pivotally supported member carrying the leaf turning arms.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

For the purpose of illustration the invention has been shown applied to a portable music rack or stand A of conventional foldable or collapsible construction, but it is to be understood that the invention may be applied to music racks or stands of various types. The rack A is supported by an upright comprising two telescoping members B, C, which are capable of being secured in adjusted position by means of a set screw D, one of said members being provided with legs E which are foldably or collapsibly connected therewith.

Mounted on the rear face of the rack A are brackets 15, 16, one of which, 15, is rela tively near the upper edge of the rack. The brackets15, 16 afford bearings for a shaft or spindle 17, a portion of which is provided with reverse spiral grooves 18, 19, said grooves being engaged by nuts 19, 2O supported in a sleeve or housing 21. Either one of the nuts 19, 20 may be secured in the sleeve, while the other nut is left free to rotate within the sleeve by means including a shifting spring 22 having a knob or handle 28 that projects through a slotQd in the sleeve, and with which an operating rod 23 and a handle 24 may be connected. By this mechanism it will be seen that by moving the sleeve lengthwise of the spin dle and back, the said spindle may be partly rotated from right to left and back or from left to right and back, according to which of the nuts 19, 20 is in locked or fixed relation to the sleeve. This specific mechanism is not herein claimed except in so far as by means thereof the desired turning movements of the spindle from right to left and back and from left to right and back may be accomplished. An example of this mechanism will be found in Patent No. 791,766, issued on June 6, 1905.

The rack A carries on its front face, near the upper edge thereof, a bracket 25 with which a holder 26 is pivotally connected by a pin or pivot 27, said holder being equipped with a pintle 28 on which a plurality of leaf carrying arms 29 are pivotally mounted, one above the other, each arm being provided with an eye 30 for the passage of the pintle. Each of the leaf carrying arms is provided with clamps 31 adapted to engage and re aim the leaf or music sheet.

Slidably mounted on the upper end of the shaft or spindle 17 is a sleeve 32, said ilk sleeve being connected with the spindle for rotation therewith by means of a key or feather 33, which, however, will not interfere with the free sliding movement of the sleeve with respect to the shaf longit dinally of the latter. The sleeve 32 carries a dome 34 which is provided at its lower edge in the front portion thereof with an approximately triangular notch 35 having an obliquely disposed top wall 36 and end walls 37, 38 of unequal length, the right end wall 37 being of a length not to exceed the thickness of a single leaf carrying arr 29, while the left end wall 38 is of proper length to engage simultaneously all of the leaf carrying arms 2-9. \Vhen the parts are assembled in position for operation, the notch 35 will be found in the front portion of the dome 34, and the right end wall 37 of the notch 35 will be just in rear of the uppermost leaf turning arm, the sleeve 32 and the dome 3st gravitating downwardly on the spindle 17 until the downward movement is arrested by contact of the top wall 36 of the notch 35 with the uppermost leaf carrying arm. The dome 34, in addition to actuating the leaf turning arms, constitutes a dust cap whereby the working parts are protected.

The sleeve 21 is normally retracted in an upward direction the action of a coiled spring 39 which connects said sleeve with the bracket 15. For the purpose of moving the sleeve forcibly in a downward direction against the tension of the spring 39, the said sleeve is provided with an arm 10 that is guided through an aperture 11 in the bracket 16, said arm being connected by a link 42 with the other end of a connecting member comprising two adjustably connected rods 4C3, 4 1, the lower one of. which is pivotally connected with a pedal 6L5. The members 43 and M are adjustably connected together by means including a sleeve L6 and a set screw 47 in order that proper adjustment may be made to correspond with the length of the standard B supporting the music rack.

It will be understood that when the device is set up for use the shifting device associated with the sleeve 21 is to be so adjusted that by moving the sleeve downwardly of the spindle against the tension of the spring 39, the spindle will be turned from right to left, while by the retracting movement of the sleeve under the influence of the spring 39 the spindle will be turned back from left to right. It is obvious that the downward movement of the sleeve will. be accomplished by pressure of the foot of the operator on the pedal 4L5, while by releasing the pedal the sleeve will be retracted by the spring 39. hen the sleeve is turned from right to left the right end wall 37 of the notch in the dome 31 will engage the topmost leaf carrying arm and swing the latter in an arc of approximately 130 degrees, the arm being thus carried a sutlicient distance to turn the leaf or music sheet which is connected therewith by the clamping device 31.. When the sleeve 21 is retracted, thus restoring the spindle to its initial. position, the dome 34c will likewise be carried toward its initial position, but when the end wall 37 of the notch 35 passes the uppermost one of the leaf carrying arms that still remains extended ina right hand direction, the dome 34: will gravitate downwardly with res acct to the spindle or shaft 17 causing the end wall 37 to catch behind such leaf carrying arm which, by the next rocking movement of the shaft or spindle from right to left, will be turned in the same manner as the preceding one. The operation may be continued until all or as many as may be desired of the leaf carrying arms have been actuated until they extend in a left hand direction with respect to the shaft or spindle 17. Now, if the shifting device of the sleeve 21 be actuated, and the sleeve be moved downwardly of the spindle 17, said spindle will be turned from left to right, and such of arms 29 as extend to the left will now be engaged by the end wall 38 of the notch 35 and will be simultaneously carried from left to right, where they remain extended in a rightward direction. By the return movement of the spindle 17 and the dome 34; the latter, by engagement of the oblique upper wall 36 of the slot 35 with the topmost arm 29, will be moved upwardly with respect to the shaft or spindle 17, being thus restored to its initial position for turning the leaf carrying arms from right to left.

It would be feasible to move the leaf carrying arms 29 manually from left to right, and if this be done the construction of the device may be simplified by omitting one of the spiral grooves in the spindle 17, the nut engagin such groov and the shifting mechanism, using in place thereof a single sleeve having rigidly connected therewith a nut engaging the spiral groove in the spindle, the arrangement being such as to turn the spindle from right to left 125 and back.

The pivot member 27 which connects the holder 93 with the bracket 25 will permit said holder carrying the leaf carrying arms to be folded down flat on the central portion 130 of the rack A when the latter is to be folded or collapsed for convenience in carrying the same. It is desirable to mount on the bracket a spring 60 having an arm 61 adapted to engage an aperture 62 in the holder 26, said arm 61 being provided with a stud 68 whereby the holder will be normally retained in position for operation. By exerting unusual pressure in a forward direction on the holder 26 the resiliency of the spring 60 and the arm 61 will cause the stud 63 to be retracted upwardly, thus permitting the holder to be swung in a forward direction.

While the member 34: has been described as a dome it is desired to be understood that this term is merely arbitrary, and that the said member may be of other shape than a conventional dome without interfering with the successful operation of the device.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is 2-- 1. In a music leaf turner having leaf carrying arms and a rocking spindle, an arm turning-element consisting of a dome mounted slidably on the spindle for rotation therewith, said dome having a notch extending through an arc of approximately 180 degrees, said notch engaging the leaf carrying arms.

2. A leaf turning device comprising a plurality of leaf carrying arms supported pivotally in approximately vertical series, a rock shaft having a double spiral groove, a spring retracted sleeve slidably engaging the rock shaft and having means to engage the double spiral groove therein, means for actuating the sleeve against the tension of its retracting spring, and a dome having a sleeve slidably engaging the rock shaft and feathered thereon for rotation therewith, said dome having an approximately triangular notch engaging the topmost leaf carrying arm and extending through an arc of approximately 180 degrees.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses H. W. CATLIN, D. R. KIMBERLY.

Co'nies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

